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It's Fun to Play the Piano ... Please Pass It On!

PM me when you get ready to start looking around. There are many churches that bought new Allen and Rodgers organs not too many years ago, that have now abandoned them in favor of praise bands and electronic keyboards. Plus, there is a major shortage of upcoming keyboard players and students that can play the organ with pedals. Occasionally, I hear of good used organs being given away for next to nothing, or pennies on the dollar. I personally had an opportunity recently of buying a brand new digital church organ with a retail price tag in the mid $20K range for $1500. I should have bought it for a practice organ and put it in my recreation room downstairs.

I have a friend who just picked up an excess church organ for a ridiculously low price.

I know what you mean about pedals. Bach and his contemporaries had the same problem, couldn't practice in an unheated church with no altar boys to pump the pedals, so they all had pedal clavichords or pedal harpsichords at home. Or so I'm told, I'm not a music historian.

Two ways to go: find a playable discarded church organ, or build your own in software. If you do the latter, manuals are easy, but pedals are hard. A new MIDI pedalboard is about $3500 US. You can retrofit a discarded church set (I'm looking for one now) but that's a lot of tinkering.

piano peddlar - i was hoping you'd respond. i'm of course on a budget. (OMG) it would be so fun to have a pedal assembly to practice on. i get to use my church's organ quite often, but we have this weight room that is essentially unused. it will have to fit thru a 40" door opening.

i don't really care what it sounds like.. i just want to practice.

Edited by apple* (05/02/0904:14 PM)

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accompanist/organist.. a non-MTNA teacher to a few

PM me if you want a faster reply; sometimes I don't get around to checking these posts for a week or so. I will keep my eyes and ears open for a good used AGO spec. (32 pedal) classical organ. As mentioned above, some churches have abandoned the organ in favor of praise ensembles (rock bands). They might let the organ go for next to nothing, compared to original cost. If I run into a nice one, I will get in touch with you (we are practically neighbors).

PM me if you want a faster reply; sometimes I don't get around to checking these posts for a week or so. I will keep my eyes and ears open for a good used AGO spec. (32 pedal) classical organ. As mentioned above, some churches have abandoned the organ in favor of praise ensembles (rock bands). They might let the organ go for next to nothing, compared to original cost. If I run into a nice one, I will get in touch with you (we are practically neighbors).

I left a church about three years ago because they shoved the"King of instruments" aside in favor of the so-called praise/rock bands. That aside,my dilemma is choosing between a good used,well cared for,Hammond A-100 or for that pipe sound I would rather have,a good used Allen Protege C-6organ. My other problem right now,...space! I live in a single room studio apartment w/small kitchen and bathroom.